St. Catherine's Orthodox Mission in St. Petersburg, FL

Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles

Tropar Of Pentecost, Tone 8:

Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, Who hast shown forth the fishermen as supremely wise, by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them, didst draw the world into Thy net. O Lover of mankind, glory be to Thee.

Kondak Of Pentecost, Tone 8:

Once, when He descended and confounded the tongues, the Most High divided the nations; and when He divided the tongues of fire, He called all men into unity; and with one accord we glorify the All-Holy Spirit.

St. Catherine the Great Martyr

Orthodox Mission

Tropar - Tone 4

With thy virtues, as with the rays of the sun, thou didst enlighten the unbelieving philosophers; and like the most radiant moon shining on those who walk at night, thou didst drive away the darkness of unbelief. Thou didst bring the empress to faith and didst denounce the tyrant, O divinely elect bride. O blessed Catherine, with desire thou didst make haste to the heavenly bridal chamber, to Christ the most comely Bridegroom, and by Him has thou been crowned with a royal crown. Standing with the angels before Him, do thou pray for us who keep thy most honored memory.

Kondak - Tone 2

O ye who love the martyrs, raise up an honored chorus in godly manner; honoring the most wise Catherine; for in the arena she preached Christ and trod upon the serpent, putting down the knowledge of the rhetors.

Saturday - Vigil at 5pm.

Sunday - Divine Liturgy in English at 10am
Sunday - Akathist Hymn and Hours at 915am

Other services as scheduled below
Inquirers most welcome!

2198 NE Coachman Rd Unit D, Clearwater FL 33765

"If you only knew how great a blessing comes from the Divine Liturgy, then you would collect even the dust from the floor of the church to wash your faces with it..."

St. Gabriel the Confessor and fool for Christ

His Eminence Nicholas

Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York

First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

The Blessed Seraphim Fellowship

The Blessed Seraphim Fellowship is under the guidance and with the support of the St. Catherine the Great Martyr Mission.

It is a community for inquirers, catechumens, and baptized Orthodox who may be discovering or rediscovering their faith.

This fellowship is not limited to members of the St. Catherine the Great Martyr Mission. Anyone from other Orthodox parishes as well as those interested in Orthodoxy are welcome to attend.

Practical, everyday issues and questions concerning living or learning to live an Orthodox Christian life are discussed, and experiences, problems and solutions are shared.

While the Blessed Seraphim Fellowship does discuss issues regarding the faith, it does not replace formal instructions for catechumens. If coming from another parish, the local parish priest will provide this. It is, however, a practical supplement to such instruction.

Blessed Seraphim Fellowship is also a way for Orthodox Christians to get to know one another and decrease any feeling of isolation which young people in particular may feel while learning to live an Orthodox Christian life.

The Fellowship meets every other Thursday at 630PM.

Since the assassination of President Moise and a devastating earthquake with two months of one another in 2021, Haiti has seen some of the worst violence in its history. In some cases, our priests must go into hiding to avoid being kidnapped and held for ransom. But the Haitian Mission is growing despite the dangers, and we have a chance to support our Orthodox brothers and sisters in this ever-suffering country.

Do you know that the Eastern American Diocese of ROCOR has 7 communities in Haiti? While our circumstances are far from ideal the conditions of our brothers and sisters in Haiti are severe. Yet they preservere in the faith, showing us what it means to truly believe in, to trust in God. Our modest community has chosen to collect what we can during this lenten season (which for the Orthodox lasts until May 5) to collect what we may and to help our brethren in Haiti. Will you not join us? Just click here and let us know that your donation is for Haiti.

All Donations will be forwarded to the Fund for Assistance.

Thank you and may God bless you.

About

Upcoming Services

Friday, April 19 - Second Vigil. The Akathist Hymn at St. Andrew’s at 5pm. Holy Mystery of Unction served by Archbishop Gabriel.

Saturday, April 20 - The Saturday of the Akathist. Hours and Divine Liturgy at 830am. Confession at 430pm. Vigil at 5pm.

Sunday, April 21 - The Fifth Sunday of Lent. St. Mary of Egypt. Akathist Hymn at 915am. Hours and Divine Liturgy.

Wednesday, April 24 - 9th Hour and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at 630pm.

Thursday, April 25 - Fellowship of Fr. Seraphim Rose at 630pm.

Saturday, April 27 - Lazarus Saturday. Hours and Divine Liturgy at 830am. Confession at 430pm. Vigil at 5pm.

Sunday, April 28 - Palm Sunday. The Entrance of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. Akathist Hymn at 915am. Hours and Divine Liturgy.

Monday, April 29 - Great and Holy Monday. Bridegroom Matins at 630pm.

Tuesday, April 30 - Great and Holy Tuesday. Bridegroom Matins at 630pm.

Wednesday, May 1 - Great and Holy Wednesday. 9th Hour and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at 630pm.

Thursday, May 2 - Great and Holy Thursday. Commemoration of the Mystical Supper. 9th Hour and Vesperal Liturgy at 830am. Great Vigil. The Matins of Great Friday. The Reading of the 12 Passion Gospels at 630pm.

Friday, May 3 - Great and Holy Friday. Commemoration of the Holy and Salvific Passion of our Lord. Royal Hours at 830am. Vespers with the bringing out of the Winding Sheet at 4pm. The Matins of Great Saturday - Lamentations at 630pm.

Saturday, May 4 - Great and Holy Saturday. The Sabbath of our Lord. First Pascha. Hours at Vesperal Liturgy at 930am. Midnight Office at 1130pm.

Sunday, May 5 - PASCHA. The Bright and Glorious Resurrection of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. Paschal Matins and Liturgy at 12am.

Monday, May 6 - Bright Monday & The Holy Great Martyr, Trophy-bearer and Wonderworker George. Hours and Divine Liturgy at 830am.

facebook.com/StCatherineStPete

If you live in the greater Tampa Bay area and are interested in Orthodoxy or would like to help in establishing a traditional Orthodox parish in English

please call Fr. Stephen Zaremba 727-239-9186 and leave a message or e-mail me at frstevofl@gmail.com.

I'd love to hear from you!

Our Purpose

Thanks be to God our community is slowly growing. Since our ways are not God’s ways we are traversing an unexpected path, currently serving at our new location as St. Catherine's Orthodox Church. Our previous location was at St. Andrew’s Russian Orthodox Church in St. Petersburg, and it proved quite beneficial for both our St. Catherine’s Mission and the St. Andrew’s parish. Having moved to our new parish in late October, it is more than apparent that God’s providence is truly remarkable.

First a quick word about our past host parish, St. Andrew’s. It is a Russian speaking community. The church is beautiful, the choir is excellent, the services served properly. While most of the vigil and Sunday Divine Liturgy are celebrated in Church Slavonic, English is used based on attendance. The Epistle and Gospel are always read in English and there is sermon in English. If you are familiar with the Divine Liturgy you will feel very comfortable. We are extremely blessed and thankful for our past time at St. Andrew's. Fr. Igor and the parishioners of St. Andrew’s have made us feel quite welcome indeed,

We previously celebrated the Divine Liturgy in English on Saturdays at St. Andrew's, followed by a Bible Study and lunch. This started off as quite a small group but it has grew so that we usually had about 20 or more stay for our class. Not bad for a Saturday morning!

Currently, we celebrate the Divine Liturgy in English on Sundays, which is again, followed by a Bible Study and lunch.

Fr. Stephen Zaremba

We are a mission. Our purpose is to make traditional, apostolic Christianity, today known as Orthodoxy, available to those who are seeking it. Many are seeking it not quite knowing what it is. If you are looking for God - look here. If you are looking for stability, where doctrines do not change with the blowing of the wind - look here. If you want to truly learn how to worship in the spirit and truth as taught by the holy Apostles - look here. If you are are not sure just what it is that you are looking for - look here. We don’t make things up as we go and we don’t change with the times. Truth is truth. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

The world is going through a time of considerable turmoil. No one knows what the future holds. The Orthodox Christian Faith has withstood the bloody persecutions of ancient Rome, the tribulation of the Arian, Iconoclastic and other heresies, the onslaught of the Persians and Moslems, Communism and everything else that the Adversary has thrown at us through the centuries. But as our Lord promised, the gates of hell have not prevailed. Regardless of what the future may hold, the Orthodox Faith will remain like bedrock unto the Lord returns.

Now some may think that Orthodox Christianity is similar to Roman Catholicism. While there may be some external similarities, Roman Catholics and Protestants, with their now 30,000 denominations, are far closer to one another than they are to the Orthodox. While this may seem very wrong, Protestantism is a reaction to Roman Catholicism and as such, while they certainly have different beliefs and solutions, they have the same mindset.

Orthodoxy is quite different as it has resisted the temptation to be altered by the philosophy of the day through the centuries. Orthodoxy is what is and has been believed by everyone everywhere from the beginning. No change. No compromise. It is manly - men love it. It is not a soft faith. It challenges each believer. And no, it is not too much for women and children. Orthodoxy is beautiful, full of joy and light, gentleness and compassion.

If you are in the area, we would love to meet you. You can contact me at frstevofl@gmail.com or call or text to 727-239-9186.

The following was a letter to the Roman Emperor Hadrian (d.138AD) from the Athenian Orator Aristides in which he depicts how the Early Christians lived. This is how Christianity conquered the world. This is how it will do so again...

“The Christians know and trust God…They placate those who oppress them and make them their friends; they do good to their enemies. Their wives are absolutely pure, and their daughters modest. Their men abstain from unlawful marriage and are free from all impurity: If any of them have bondwomen or children, they persuade them to become Christians for the love they have toward them; and when they become so, they call them without distinction brothers…They love one another: They do not refuse to help the widows. They rescue the orphan from him who does him violence. He who has, gives ungrudgingly to him who has not. If they see a stranger; they take him to their dwellings and rejoice over him as over a real brother; for they do not call themselves brothers after the flesh, but after the Spirit and in God…If any one among them is poor and needy; and they do not have food to spare, they fast for two or three days, that they may supply him with necessary food. They scrupulously obey the commands of their Messiah. Every morning and every hour they thank and praise God for His loving-kindness toward them…Because of them there flows forth all the beauty that there is in the world. But the good deeds they do, they do not proclaim in the ears of the multitude, but they take care that no one shall perceive them. Thus they labor to become righteous…Truly, this is a new people and there is something divine in them.”